Clash of Souls
by public static void
Summary: The battle was all but lost. Alecto could only wonder why this kid was stronger than her and most of Team Rocket. Later, she has some things explained to her that create more questions than answers. Pokemon!AU.


The battle was all but lost. Alecto frowned at the smirk in Red's lips, curiously wondering why was that boy stronger than her and most of Team Rocket.

"You are weak," she heard herself say, but if Red thought it was directed at him he didn't react. Instead, the boy simply waved a hand, showing his dismissal to whatever she could say.

Alecto was frozen with both fear and anger.

Her only Pokemon remaining was her Houndoom, and it already had less than half its Health Points. She could see its angry snarl, its ready-to-attack posture, and its own wrath. They hadn't been defeated like this before and both of them knew it. Her Houndoom had never seen her this disheveled, and her team had never showed any weakness prior to this battle.

Hell! She even had Pokemon with type-advantage over the kid and her strategy was carefully planned. Her Marowak would defeat Pikachu and if needed it could take down Charizard too. Magneton could easily incapacitate a Water Type such as Lapras. Gengar had attacks that would render Snorlax useless. Blastoise was another advantage over Charizard, and her Victreebel could defeat Red's own Blastoise.

Nothing went according to plan, and Alecto felt her throath ache with the repressed anger she was feeling. Red still had his Pikachu —that demon that could not be a simple and unevolved electric rat— and Venusaur with complete health, and the rest of his team had at least half their Health Points.

Alecto grunted, cursing the boy. How could he be this strong? She was both older and more experienced, having defeated the Elite Four three times before, but never Lance. Red defeated the _other_ kid who swept the floor with Lance and then he went to look for the ex-Champion just to make sure he was strong enough before deciding to spend his time in this cave.

Alecto saw as Red tilted his head to the left, his eyes bright with the thrill of battle. He was mocking her, trying to rile her up with his controlled movements and lack of talk.

She finally nodded and his Pikachu ran to the middle of the arena. How could the rat know she was accepting to go on with the match?

"Go, Houndoom," she called for her own Pokemon, wondering how could Red be so connected to the creatures on his team.

Pikachu didn't wait and attacked before Houndoom could reach the center of the arena. He threw a weak _Thunder Shock_ , toying with Houndoom who easily evaded the attack.

"Use _Inferno_ , Houndoom!" Alecto exclaimed, already at edge and wanting to end the battle.

The attack didn't work, and Alecto barely had time to react and growl when Pikachu was already using _Iron Tail_.

Alecto smirked, expecting the move not to work at full power because Houndoom's Fire Type. Pikachu erased the smile from her face when Houndoom howled in pain and fell back.

"How can you be so strong?" she asked in a whisper, hurrying to Houndoom's side and looking straight at Red, whose cruel smile beat her own merciless smirk any day.

Red didn't answer, and simply retreated into the dark cave leaving her and her Houndoom in the ground at the summit.

Houndoom whimpered. She quickly gave it an Hyper Potion to keep it awake and frowned. Red hadn't defeated her: Houndoom's Health Points had not reached zero.

"Fucking kid," Alecto said and sighed.

The walk down Mount Silver would be long.

* * *

Alecto felt lucky she wasn't a well-known trainer, because when she got out of Ecruteak's Pokemon Center she actually thanked that not many people asked about her journey to Mt Silver. Those who did ask were not too enthusiastic, and now Alecto guessed it meant they already knew how though Red was to beat.

She sighed when her wayward walk took her to the Burned Tower, but did not go away from it. Alecto sneaked inside, trying no to see the tall mountain that towered over the city. Instead she took her time to enjoy the orange and reddish leaves from the woods surrounding the city she grew to love.

Alecto liked the somber vibe of Ecruteak, and enjoyed spending time with the locals who shared with her stories of the Burned Tower and the many legends that were born there. It felt more like home than Pewter City ever did, though she did miss Brock and his blunt words. He would know how to make her feel better.

"Who are you?"

The growl startled her. Alecto hadn't noticed anyone else getting to the top of the tower, and the man calling her from the door managed to fright her.

"What do you care, beast?"

Her response earned a snort and a sound that somehow resembled laughter but didn't get to the point of being a happy sound.

She didn't dare to tear her eyes from him, in case he decided to attack. Fenrir Greyback was one of Ecruteak's legends, after all, and even she would not dare challenge him.

"I care because this is my place," he growled again, making Alecto wonder if his voice always made the bones of people vibrate with fear, or if it was just her.

"Well you will have to share," she responded and, trying to look less nervous than she felt, looked back to Mt Silver.

This time he laughed for real, and the sound made something stir inside Alecto. "You?" he asked. "You were the experienced trainer who challenged the Champion?"

Alecto scoffed and didn't answer, but her Houndoom —her loyal Pokemon that had respected her wish for silence— leaped and placed itself between her and the famous Greyback, baring its teeth and growling.

"My Houndoom doesn't like you," Alecto shared with nonchalant voice. "It would be better if you left us alone."

"Alone in my home? Not even Morty gets to be alone in my home."

"I defeated him. I have the right to stay because I'm stronger."

Fenrir Greyback growled, and this time Houndoom felt scared and stepped back without making a sound.

"Morty is stronger than anyone else around. Even stronger than I am. It's only the game he and the League play that has him act like a weakling."

It was then that Alecto teared her eyes away from the horizon and turned to Greyback with curiosity.

In that moment, when his eyes betrayed the boiling deep inside him, Alecto found him quite attractive and scolded herself for the intrusive thought. He might as well be a beast for all he acted like one, howling with the Lycanroc packs and running after the Ninetales.

"What do you mean?" she asked warily. She was curious, but not guillible.

"I mean the League is a farce. A joke perpetuated by those who want to control us," he explained, passionately making hand gestures and making Alecto jump with each step he took towards her. "They will let you believe you are strong enough to beat them, but if you ever see them battle each other and bring down mountains with the attack of their pets, you will understand what I mean."

"Why would they do that?" Alecto asked, almost protesting the absurdity of his claim. "I've seen the look of defeat in their eyes, the shame at losing to people like me and the anger at having a kid as Champion."

Greyback chuckled, and even in the odd action Alecto found herself hypnotised by him.

"Because the kid defied them and won, and now he doesn't let anyone else beat him just to satisfy the League's need of evolution."

Alecto thought about that. It did look as if the boy was somehow disappointed, though she was too busy trying and failing to give a good fight to really care about the boy's thoughts.

"The Champion would die before leaving his title to someone else," Greyback further explained, now standing in front of Alecto, looking down at her while her Houndoom paced the room behind him, awaiting for an opening and her order to attack Greyback if the need came to pass.

Alecto's eyes widened in understanding, her mouth opening slightly in surprise.

"That's why he hid himself in Mount Silver," Alecto concluded. "To prevent someone else from legally getting the title."

The man-beast nodded and took his hand to Alecto's face, his claw-like nails leaving a coarse caress in her cheek. Alecto's skin tingled, though she couldn't know if it was of anger or desire for the man.

"The little trainer understands," he said and wolfishly smirked.

He stiffened and turned around suddenly, startling her and Houndoom. At the door was a smiling woman that looked misteriously similar to Alecto. She also had red hair and grey eyes, but she seemed at the same time stronger and more demure than Alecto did.

"Is it time?" Greyback asked the woman.

She lifted a finger and pointed at Alecto, nodding at the same time. The woman's eyes met with her and Alecto felt overwhelmed.

"I don't think she would be of use," Greyback said mockingly. "The Champion beat her, after all."

Wrath came back to Alecto, and without thinking she punched the man in the shoulder. He barely moved and looked over at her condescendingly.

"I'll kill you if you touch me again, trainer," he said, leaning forward until his eyes were inches away from Alecto's. For a second, she lost herself in the amber-colored irises of Greyback before he growled. Houndoom growled too, attracting his attention and reassuring Alecto of its presence.

"Let's go," he told the woman and the both left, not without her glancing back at Alecto.

The eyes of the woman shone as she disappeared in the darkness of the aisle beyond the door.

Houndoom got close to Alecto and bumped her shoulder with its head, trying to regain her attention.

"I think it's time to go back to Pewter," Alecto told her Pokemon, petting her head and glancing back at the alpenglow burning bright at the top of Mount Silver. "Brock has much to explain."


End file.
